Strickland, McGrath in Key Race for Assembly

It’s still dark when Assemblyman Tony Strickland arrives to stand beside a stoplight next to the Ventura Freeway in Oxnard. Commuters cruise slowly past the towering bear of a man, often honking or offering a thumbs up.

“There’s nothing else you can do at 6:30 in the morning to get exposure,” says Strickland, waving to passersby. “If you’re asking people for their votes, you get in front of them as many times as you can.”

Politicos call these early morning sessions “Burma Shaving.” Like the old TV commercial about the tingly after-shave, they wake up the driver like a bracing slap to the face.

“This alone won’t win an election,” says the one-term lawmaker from Moorpark. “But it helps.”

If he wins Nov. 7, Strickland, at 30 the Assembly’s youngest member, could become the chamber’s Republican leader.

But that doesn’t mean he is a shoo-in.

Somis kindergarten teacher Roz McGrath, 53, stands in his way. Again.

McGrath, a descendant of Irish immigrant farmers who settled the Oxnard Plain in the 1860s, lost to Strickland by an eyelash in 1998, nearly stealing the 37th District seat that Republicans have held for more than three decades.

Now she is back with a vengeance and unencumbered by the responsibilities of teaching. Democrats think so much of her chances--and want to beat Strickland so badly--that they have freed her up to campaign full time since school recessed in June.

“Hi, I’m Roz,” she says as she canvasses a south Oxnard neighborhood. “McGrath,” she adds. “I’m a teacher trying to get some money for our schools and for our health care system.”

She has taken this message to the streets for five months, knocking on thousands of doors. Now she is in a mainly Latino neighborhood where Democrats mounted a recent voter registration drive.

“I’ve heard of her before,” says Maria Luna, 33, a recent citizen. “I vote for Democrats only. Republicans don’t like immigrants.”

With Strickland and McGrath, voters in the 37th Assembly District, which stretches from Thousand Oaks to Oxnard, are offered a contrast in style and philosophy.

McGrath is a self-described moderate backed by labor unions, teachers, environmentalists and women’s groups. Strickland is a Reagan Republican backed by law enforcement, big business and conservative groups.

Both are strongly supported by their parties in a must-win race targeted for heavy spending in the final weeks before the Nov. 7 election. McGrath says she will spend $750,000 to $1 million as the Democratic Party weighs in. Strickland, who had raised $565,000 by the end of September, says he will match her spending if necessary to win--and less of his money is coming from party coffers.

“Batten down the hatches,” said McGrath campaign director Phil Giarrizzo last week. “It’s going to be a barn-burner down the stretch.”

A series of hard-hitting mailers, paid for by the state Democratic Party, began to arrive a week ago and more are scheduled for the days ahead, attacking Strickland’s record on gun control, women’s issues, health care and the environment.

Strickland responded Thursday with a statement by former Republican Rep. Robert Lagomarsino, who likened McGrath’s campaign to the nasty assault of millionaire Michael Huffington, who knocked off Lagomarsino in 1992.

“Roz McGrath is continually misrepresenting Tony’s votes,” Lagomarsino said, “and unfairly attacking one of the hardest-working Assembly members.”

McGrath said she had nothing to do with the attack ads. “The Democratic Party did it,” she said. “You’d have to ask them about it.”

Bringing the County to Sacramento

Strickland says he is running on a platform of tax cuts, small government, safe streets and HMO and education reform. He has championed a gas tax cut his whole term.

It’s a record that includes few legislative victories, but the incumbent says he has highlighted issues important to Ventura County as part of the Republican minority in the Assembly.

“It’s a much different campaign than it was in 1998,” he said. “It’s a referendum on the job I’ve done. I’ve got a great relationship with both sides of the aisle. I’m high energy. I bring Ventura County up to Sacramento.”

McGrath says her priorities are improved education, public safety, environmental protection and affordable health care, especially for children.

“My campaign is about putting kids first,” she said.

On issues often used to define candidates, these two differ sharply: Strickland favors the Proposition 38 school voucher initiative, McGrath opposes it. He opposes handgun licensing, she favors it. He opposes abortion except in the most extreme cases, she favors a woman’s right to choose.

“His record proves he’s an ideologue who’s out of touch with the constituents of his district,” McGrath said. “And let’s talk about [religious broadcaster Edward] Atsinger and his $100,000 loan to Mr. Strickland. He’s a right-wing extremist, just like Mr. Strickland.”

Strickland is a conservative. And in this year of center-seeking politicians, he doesn’t run far from that description. “I am conservative,” he says, “but that’s mainstream for Ventura County.”

He idolizes Ronald Reagan and married three years ago at the Richard Nixon Library. He brought a huge Gipper license plate--like the one he pushed through the Legislature last year--to a recent Westlake Village fund-raiser titled, “Renewing the Reagan Legacy.” Maureen Reagan, the former president’s daughter, was the featured speaker. Strickland raised $100,000 that night alone.

It was an evening at which Atsinger, whose California Independent Business PAC has pumped millions of dollars into conservative campaigns, was a principal contributor. So was corporate America--Boeing, Blue Cross, Coca-Cola and Exxon all gave generously. While shaking hands, some supporters playfully slipped checks into the incumbent’s palm.

Dist. Atty. Michael Bradbury and Santa Paula Police Chief Bob Gonzales were there, too, demonstrating Strickland’s solid backing from local law enforcement, including the county deputy sheriff’s association and Sheriff Bob Brooks.

Brooks is featured in Strickland’s campaign ads, and his tape-recorded endorsement of the assemblyman has been left on voters’ telephone answering machines.

“In the two and a half years I’ve been in office,” Brooks said in an interview, “we’ve relied on Tony consistently as an important ally as we’ve gone for state appropriations. He’s laid the groundwork for success.”

Despite McGrath’s insistence that he is a right-wing zealot, Strickland said he has shown his flexibility by supporting Democrat-backed reforms in education and health care. For example, he supported a plan to give patients the right to sue HMOs and allow them a second physician opinion on ailments. And he voted for phonics-based reading programs, increases in teacher salaries and mandatory high school exit exams.

“I’m a moderate on some things,” he maintained.

One example, he said, is his support of Somis residents in their call for a full environmental review of the consequences of widening state Highway 118 through the farmlands of Las Posas Valley.

“Caltrans should study the environmental impact on the whole corridor,” he said. “People live here because they don’t want this to be another San Fernando Valley or Orange County.”

An Early Start at Sports and Politics

Strickland, the son of a retired Army sergeant and his German-born wife, is a hard-charger from Simi Valley who embraced both politics and basketball at an early age.

In sports, he played on the Royal High School varsity and was all-conference in college. In politics, he worked his first campaign as a 12-year-old volunteer for Ronald Reagan, founded the Young Republicans chapter at Whittier College and worked as a volunteer on ballot initiatives, legislative races and for other conservative causes.

He has earned his living as an aide to two conservative Republican lawmakers, Paula Boland and Tom McClintock. Indeed, he was a point man three years ago in McClintock’s successful campaign to cut vehicle license fees.

“I’ve had a lot of experience working in this field,” Strickland said.

Over the last two years, Strickland has used that experience in the Capitol to forge a leadership position among Republicans. He has been particularly effective in highlighting issues that resonate with the public, such as a gas tax cut, party officials say.

“We view Tony as a real up-and-coming member,” said Jamie Fisfis, political director for the Republican Assembly Caucus. “Tony has sharp political instincts for the cutting issue.”

McGrath, the daughter of a farmer and a homemaker, grew up on a Camarillo lima bean farm with eight brothers and sisters.

She cites her breadth of “real-world” experience as an advantage. She has earned her living as an elementary school teacher, college lecturer, farm manager and director of an organization that assisted battered women and moved women off welfare into jobs. She was also the first woman board member of the county Farm Bureau.

She hardly gave elective office a second thought until 1992 when, as a member of the county Democratic Central Committee, she decided to run for an open Assembly seat because she thought the Legislature was ignoring the needs of students.

In that first race, McGrath lost 51%-44% to veteran Oxnard Mayor Nao Takasugi, who outspent her 5 to 1.

Then in 1998, she lost to Strickland by about 1,300 votes--a single percentage point--even though Republicans outnumbered Democrats in the district by 3,500 and despite a yearlong full-time campaign by the well-financed Strickland.

In the end, after late donations, each spent more than $400,000.

McGrath, suffering from her second bout with breast cancer, bowed out of a potential rematch in spring 1999.

But a year ago, after regaining her health, McGrath got a call from Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg. The party needed her, he said, and it would spend all the money it would take to get her elected. By contrast, in 1998, party support came in a belated blitz during the last three weeks.

“I wasn’t going to say yes until I had all my demands met,” McGrath said. “That included this being a targeted race so there would be a party investment to win.”

Democrats Confident McGrath Has a Shot

So far, that commitment has paid for a campaign office and full-time staff. It has paid for polls and the current flurry of mailers.

“We’re confident Roz can win,” said Darry Scragow, campaign manager for the Assembly Democratic Caucus. “She will need a war chest of between $750,000 and $1 million. She’ll raise what she can raise and we’ll provide the balance.”

Scragow said he thinks Strickland is vulnerable--despite an edge of 3,728 Republican registered voters and a recent Democratic poll that showed McGrath trailing by 15 percentage points. Polls show voters disagree with Strickland on many issues, Scragow said, and a media flurry will point out those disparities.

“So we expect his lead to collapse right around Election Day,” Scragow said.

Part of that closing campaign will be McGrath’s emphasis on Strickland’s alleged inability to bring tax money back to Ventura County from Sacramento.

County Supervisor John Flynn, whose Oxnard-based district overlaps Strickland’s, said the assemblyman’s extreme positions have alienated even members of his own party and cost his constituents.

Flynn said he and Strickland worked together on bringing a sewer system to El Rio and getting $250,000 for a new gym in the same community.

In the end, however, both efforts collapsed because Strickland refused to compromise and voted against the state budget, Flynn said.

“So the governor looks at that, and he wouldn’t give Tony anything,” Flynn said. “I really like Tony. How can anyone not like him? But he came up with zero.”

But Supervisor Frank Schillo, a Republican whose Thousand Oaks-based district also overlaps Strickland’s, said the assemblyman is extremely effective in solving constituent problems.

“For a young guy, he has done an outstanding job representing this area and making sure that we are informed about what is happening in Sacramento,” Schillo said.

Strickland’s biggest problem, Schillo said, is that he is a Republican, and Democrats control state government.

Strickland said Flynn should blame Gov. Gray Davis for loss of the El Rio gym money, since it was in the state budget until Davis vetoed it. And he said the El Rio sewer bill was delayed only because of concerns about how it would meld with a similar Democratic bill. He said he will revive it next session.

“But I did vote against the budget because it increased government spending more in one year than [the increase] in the entire eight years of the Wilson administration,” Strickland said.

He produced for his district, Strickland said, by joining Democrats to secure $10 million in start-up money for Cal State University Channel Islands. He also worked in bipartisan efforts to return property tax money to local governments, he said.

As for his purported inflexibility and vulnerability, Strickland said that is Democratic chatter.

“I think McGrath’s strategy is to blitz the district in the last days of the campaign with misrepresentations of my record,” he said.

As for results on Election Day, Strickland said the only poll he has done was on March 7, when he got 56% of votes in an open primary in which voters could cross party lines.

“You have a feeling when it’s close or when you’re doing well,” he said. “This time, I’m confident that we’re doing well.”

37th Assembly District

The 37th District is represented by Assemblyman Tony Strickland (R-Camarillo), who is facing two challengers. The district includes Camarillo, Moorpark, Oxnard, Port Hueneme and part of Thousand Oaks.

Roz McGrath

Age: 53

Residence: Camarillo

Occupation: Kindergarten teacher

Education: Bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Dominican College of San Rafael, 1969; master’s degree in early childhood education from San Francisco State University, 1976; California teaching credential, San Francisco State University, 1976.

Background: Teacher, private elementary schools, 1969-73; part-time child development instructor, Oxnard College, 1976-82; partner in McGrath family farming operation, 1976-present; executive director, county Coalition to End Domestic Violence, 1980-82; instructor at Ventura County Women’s Economic and Education Inc., which helped women on welfare get jobs, 1982-84; teacher, Mesa Union Elementary in Somis, 1989-present. She was the Ventura County Farm Bureau’s first woman board member and has been active in California Women for Agriculture and the National Women’s Political Caucus. She is a descendant of a pioneer Ventura County farm family.

Issues: She thinks her narrow loss to Assemblyman Tony Strickland (R-Camarillo) in 1998 and her strong showing against former Republican Assemblyman Nao Takasugi in 1992 prove she can beat Strickland with the strong financial support Democratic leaders have promised. She says her moderate politics suit the district, and that her background is far broader than Strickland’s. She pledges reforms in education and health care and more environmental protection. She opposes the Proposition 38 voucher initiative. She supports a woman’s right to an abortion. She favors licensing of handgun owners. She supports giving patients the right to sue HMOs.

Personal: Single

Willard Michlin

Party: Libertarian

Age: 53

Residence: Moorpark

Occupation: Business consultant/broker

Education: Bachelor’s degree in accounting, Cal State Los Angeles, 1969

Background: Laborer, salesman, vice president, Apex Drum Co., Commerce, 1964-75; president, Kismet Real Estate Investments Inc., Los Angeles and Moorpark, 1975-present.

Issues: He supports the Proposition 38 school voucher initiative because “the public school system doesn’t work.” He favors privatization of all government services for greater efficiency. He favors removal of government from all activities not specified in the U.S. Constitution. He favors a two-term limit for all local, state and federal offices. He would return all education funds to local school districts for use without state restriction.

Personal: Married to Susan, a homemaker, for 20 years. They have two school-age children.

Tony Strickland

Party: Republican

Age: 30

Residence: Moorpark

Occupation: Assemblyman

Education: Bachelor’s degree in political science from Whittier College, 1993

Background: Known locally as a Simi Valley high school basketball player and an all-conference guard in college; president, Whittier College Republicans Club, 1991-93; recipient, Leadership and Service Award, Whittier College, 1992; worked for two conservative lawmakers, Assemblywoman Paula Boland (R-Northridge), 1994-96, and was chief aide and campaign manager for Assemblyman Tom McClintock (R-Northridge), 1996-98; vice chairman, Assembly Health Committee, 1999-2000; vice chairman, Assembly Government Organizations Committee, 1999-2000; co-chairman, Assembly Ethics Committee, 1999-2000; Republican whip, Assembly, 1999-2000; member of Insurance and Budget Committee.

Issues: He says he is campaigning on a record of education reform, including support for phonics-based reading programs, increases in teacher salaries, mandatory high school exit exams, and sending an equal portion of state dollars to all local school districts. He says he has supported HMO reform, including giving patients the right to sue HMOs and allowing them a second physician opinion on ailments. He has led an unsuccessful effort to cut state gasoline taxes by 15 cents per gallon. He opposes handgun licensing. He favors the Proposition 38 voucher initiative. He opposes abortion except in cases of rape, incest and when a woman’s life is in danger. He would expand the death penalty to include serial rapists.

Personal: Married to Audra, a private school history teacher, for three years